It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

It was many weeks ago that Christmas decorations were put up along Orchard Road and in the shopping malls and shops began playing carols and Christmas songs continuously but despite this I have found it quite hard to 'feel Christmassy', it is just not the same when it's 30 degrees outside and the leaves are still on the trees.

However last week Papa T and I went to Eden Hall; the official residence of the British High Commissioner to attend 'An Evening of Christmas Carols and Festive Fare' and this really helped us enter into the spirit of Christmas.

Eden Hall is a beautiful and very large Black and White colonial building and had been decorated for the event. On the verandah a Salvation Army brass band was playing as the guests arrived

After a glass (or two) of mulled wine and delicious canapés we were invited to go to the 'Upstairs Ballroom' for the carol singing and readings. HE Scott Wightman welcomed us all 

and his wife, Anne, started the singing by taking the solo part of Once in Royal David's city

Later on we were entertained by The Ministry of Bellz, a group of hand bell ringers, they were brilliant and at the end of the evening let the children (and the High Commissioner) try ringing the bells

It was a lovely relaxed evening and a good start to Christmas.

Coming back down the beautiful staircase I resisted the temptation to relive my childhood by sliding down the bannister but couldn't resist having a photo of us taken on the bottom of the stairs in front of  a picture of the HM Queen Elizabeth

My lovely neighbour and Elton John!

I had been suffering with a sore throat and had barely any voice all week so when my neighbour popped round at 7.10pm to say she had just been given 2 complimentary tickets to see Elton John and would I like to go with her, oh and by the way the performance started in less than an hour's time, I hesitated, really I should have a quiet night in, I wouldn't be able to sing along (probably a good thing!) but Papa T looked at me and said "say yes, you will regret it if you don't", so true, so I said yes and hugged dear JB.

It was JB who had put a card under our door the day we moved into our apartment, welcoming us to the condo, inviting us to pop round if we needed anything and at the bottom put her name, her husband's and teenage son's name and age (13yrs) and added in brackets- UK. such a nice surprise in a new place.

JB has also been instrumental in getting several other condo residents to know each other and set up a  Facebook group where we can exchange useful information, arrange outings together to explore Singapore and most importantly arrange to meet up for coffee, cake and chat. 

Anyway back to Elton. Both JB and I rushed to make supper for our families, eat it, get changed and get to the concert venue within 40 minutes, perhaps not as hard as it sounds as the concert was being held in the Star Theatre which is just over the road from our condo-very convenient!

 Elton and his band played without a break for 2 and half hours. They played hit after hit, I was stunned when Elton said that his album Yellow Brick Road had been released 40 years ago this year. How time flies! 

 At the start of the show Elton said he was 'full of cold' and apologised for his voice, this plus the change in his voice from just being older meant that he sounded a little different but he was still amazing and gave a great performance. His band were also brilliant, the drummer Nigel Olsson has been with Elton since the 1970's and gave a very energetic performance.  Sadly, or maybe thankfully, due to my poor voice I could not sing along but I mimed very happily.

I felt very lucky to have had this surprise opportunity and also to have live next door to such a lovely neighbour-thanks JB

Friends to stay

Last week we had the great pleasure of having some of our oldest friends to stay. I think it is hard for UK friends and family, who have never visited Singapore before to imagine what it is like living here-the relentless heat and humidity, the wonderful mix of different cultures and religions, the lush planting everywhere and the huge emphasis on shopping and eating, so it's lovely when good friends come and experience the Garden City.

Whilst MR had work to attend to, BR and I had several days sightseeing. By sheer accident the days seemed to fall into themes with day 1 focussing on religions. 

We first visited the Sri Mariamman Hindu Temple 

 where musicians were playing for a family's puja ceremony

Next was the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple where the monks were chanting for their buddhist ceremony 

then after a lovely lunch of crispy dumplings and freshly squeezed fruit juices at Maxwell food court we walked on through Ann Siang Hill with it's lovely old shophouses and on to Telok Ayer Street to Thiang Hock Keng Temple 

The temple, built in 1840, encompasses Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism

 By ringing each bell once, then putting our hands together and making a wish and finally throwing a coin into the fountain our wish would be heard by the gods. Not sure if BR has had her wish yet but I'm still waiting!

The next day the unintentional theme was- Gardens. We spent the morning at Singapore's newly elected and first UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Singapore Botanic Gardens. This also happens to be my number one favourite place in all of Singapore

In the afternoon we went to the ultra modern Gardens by The Bay  

and first enjoyed the cool air inside the Cloud Forest Dome

The second dome-the Flower Dome had just revealed it's new Christmas floral display, it was lovely to see amaryllis, poinsettia's and other flowers we have come to associate with Christmas  

the display is entitled Christmas Toyland, both BR and myself wished we had young children with us as they would definitely have loved it

Once outside we went up to the skywalk to get great views of the Supertrees, the gardens and of course the Marina Bay Sands but before we had a chance to take many photos the sky darkened and the heavens opened- it is monsoon season of course

    The following day BR joined me at my usual morning walking group around the Botanic Gardens and experienced how incredibly hot and sweaty one gets doing any sort of outdoor exercise (sorry for this photo BR!) after this BR's jet lag had taken hold so we spent rather a nice relaxing afternoon by the pool-well until the monsoon rains came. This day's theme-Relaxation

The next day was Saturday and MR was free to join us. We visited Reflections of Bukit Chandu, a small but very moving museum about the Japanese invasion and the terrible battle of Pasir Panjang before walking part of the Southern Ridges walk. This interesting walk passes through jungle and parks, skirting the built up areas by using raised walkways, treetop trails and bridges before reaching the top of Mount Faber Point (105m, 344ft) with it's shops, restaurants and cable car station over to Sentosa

 In the pic below look at the bottom big branch to the right of the tree, or follow up the line of ropes dangling down -there was a man with a chainsaw pruning the dead branches! This gives an idea as to how huge the lovely rain trees grow 

Ringing the bell of happiness- in our case happy to complete this hot and sweaty walk! 

There was only one place left to visit on our guests list- Raffles Hotel so after a long shower, swim and rest we went out for the evening. The hotel was decorated ready for Christmas with real fir trees in the entrance hall and this one in the bar.

This time instead of visiting the more famous (and therefore often uncomfortably crowded) Long Bar we enjoyed our Singapore Slings and Gin cocktails in the Writers Bar, which styled as as a library pays tribute to the many writers who have stayed at the hotel or written about it

It was a lovely way to celebrate our friends visit and bid them bon voyage as sadly they had to return to the UK the following day. 

The Golden Rock-Myanmar

The next day the 8th November was a momentous day as it was Myanmar's first openly contested general election for 25years. The previous two days there had definitely been a sense of quiet excitement and everyone that commented said they hoped "The Lady" would win, they were referring to Aung San Suu Kyi the leader of NLD. 

During the day we saw many people with an ink stained little finger-a sign that they had voted. 

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That day we travelled East into the Mon district towards a mountain top village called Kyaiktiyo about 5 hours drive away. During this journey we realised that cars in Myanmar drive on the right but they use right hand drive cars this makes overtaking pretty scary! We stopped on the way to visit Bago and some of it's famous sights, first Kyaik Pun

Here four huge images of Buddha at the moment of enlightenment sit back to back, each with one hand touching the earth

Further on is another huge reclining Buddha (55m) statue, Shwe Tha Lyaung

and as with many other pagoda the entrance stairways are guarded by Chinthe, lion like figures

and lastly the Shwemawdaw Pagoda, which has a huge lump of brickwork sticking out of it, a result of earthquake damage in the early 1900's. 

 The current pagoda was renovated in the 1950's but appeared to be under repair again judging by the incredible lattice work of bamboo scaffolding covering it

 The chinthe at this pagoda have tiny golden Buddhas in their mouths

We drove on for another couple of hours until we reached Kinpun village at the foot of the mountain, where the we left behind our driver and his comfy car and clambered on board an open truck with bench seats and grab rails 

 The truck journey is known for being fast and pretty hair-raising but it was reassuring to see that life insurance was included in the 2,500 Khat (£1.50 ) fare!

 at least we had seats, not sure how much hanging onto the back of the truck cost?

 It certainly was an exhilarating ride, but half an hour later we arrived, at 1,100 m, somewhat shaken but safe

After checking in we set off to see the purpose of our visit- Golden Rock, it was up a steep slope with masses of steps and rather than walking some pilgrims chose to be carried up in a sort of sedan chair 

with young children or bags being carried up in baskets on porters backs

with no road, everything has to be carried up by hand

near the rock is the counter where sheets of gold leaf can be purchased to be smoothed onto the rock as an offering, only by men though as women are barred from touching the rock

 The story behind the Golden Rock is that a strand of Buddha's hair holds the balancing rock in place  

 it certainly seems to be sat fairly precariously 

 around the pagoda precinct there were dozens of pilgrims, hawkers and a few tourists

From the top we could see how extensive the village of Kyaiktiyo is

we waited for the sun to start setting before going back to the hotel

and from here the following morning saw a wonderful sunrise

 and when it was fully light we had an incredible view across the mountains towards Thailand

before leaving Kyaiktiyo I had time for a good walk. The street was already busy, with monks collecting their alms...

and this gentleman who was walking very slowly, banging the metal disc hanging from the pole holding two baskets

he was happy to be photographed in exchange for some khat

I walked back passed the rock and to the village below. The route down was stepped steeply, it was quite tough walking but of course the locals were going up and down pretty easily, they must be incredibly fit 

 it seemed a very simple village

 I was starred at by everyone I passed by with many of them smiling and saying 'hello', I could smile back and respond with 'Mingalaba' the greeting we had learned to use in Yangon.

We had another exciting truck journey back down the mountain, fortunately the driver seemed happy to take the hair pin bends at a sensible speed. We met up with our driver from yesterday and headed back to Yangon. 

We stopped for a break by the side of a small river where fish were being dried in the sun

 Here the stall holder is selling the dried fish which is used as a paste  in lots of dishes 

 I think these are fish but I'm not sure

 We had one more night and day in Yangon, mainly spent shopping in Bogyoke Market and dodging heavy showers. The election results were starting to come through and a landslide victory for NLD, The Lady's party, was looking very likely. We had a fabulous, trouble free and memorable trip. It will be interesting to follow Myanmar's progress as it develops, hopefully this will be done with care and in a way that benefits the Burmese people and we look forward to going back one day